Scientists have found a new way to overcome one of the biggest obstacles to the use of viruses for therapeutic genes.

Scientists from the Institute for research at national level have found a way to overcome one of the biggest obstacles to the use of viruses for administration of therapeutic genes, that is, how to prevent the immune system to neutralize the virus before it has delivered its genetic set.

Gene therapy is one of the most promising possibilities for the treatment of genetic disorders such as muscular dystrophy, congenital blindness and hemophilia. Scientists explore gene therapy as a cure for certain types of cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, viral infections and other acquired diseases. In order to obtain a therapeutic gene into cells, scientists use viruses that deliver its genetic material in cells as part of their normal replication process.

Again and again, these efforts were thwarted by the very immune system of the body that damages each viral vector. Thus the therapeutic gene can be delivered to diseased cells and disease raging in full force.

A team led by Louis-Rodino Klapak, PhD, and Jerry Mendel, MD, principal investigator in the Center for Gene Therapy at Nationwide, show for the first time that using a process called plasmapheresis, just before delivery of the virus for gene therapy he is protected long enough to enter the cell and deliver their genetic material.

In a study of gene therapy for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), Dr. Rodino-Klapak using plasmapheresis in a large animal model, and then injected a virus carrying the gene micro-dystrophin. When studying the level of gene expression of the micro-dystrophin in animals, it was found that there is a 500% increase in the gene expression in the animals who received a plasmapheresis.

Dr. Mendel believes that right now, gene therapy seems to work best in patients who have antibodies to the virus. It is this virus is used to supply the necessary gene. It is exactly this gene, which is a therapeutic, curative intent of the organism suffering from a disease. On the other hand, it limits the number of patients who can benefit from gene therapy. This is because in very few patients lacking antibodies against the virus.

Using the method of plasmapheresis repeatedly increases the potential of gene therapy, as this eliminates the obstacle called immune response of the organism.

As gene therapy becomes more widespread, it may be necessary, patients receiving more than one course of treatment.

The main problem is that when you go home after the first treatment, their body develops antibodies to the virus used to deliver the therapeutic gene. The use of plasma in a patient who previously received gene therapy may allow him to be treated again.

Recently identified gene mutation increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes tenfold. It was found in the DNA of the population of Greenland.

The study by scientists from Copenhagen gives a new perspective on innate predisposition and the real danger of diabetes.

Of course, the presence of the mutation TBC1D4, is not confined only within the largest island on the planet. It has already detected among many Europeans suffering from diabetes.

Its "arms" consists in the development of insulin resistance in muscle.

The discovery allows for harder prevention of diseases and the development of new techniques for treatment.

"We know that each of us has his heredity, which, unfortunately, when diabetes is critical. It is not enough to become diabetics. We do not inherit the disease, and the tendency of its manifestation.

Our meeting with a number of external factors such as viruses, chemicals, and other stressful situations may trigger a series of autoimmune processes in our body that damage and destroy cells of the pancreas that produce the hormone insulin, "comment the investigators.

They point out that diabetes is not a disease, as it causes many damages to the human body.

"We can not change our heredity, but we can change our lifestyle.

If you take care of your health in time through healthy eating and daily physical activity we can gain skills for coping with stress alone can reduce the likelihood of falling ill from diabetes, "concluded the report by researchers from Copenhagen.

U.S. scientists have identified a gene in the gray matter of the brain, which they say is responsible for intelligence.

These are proteins called " Clotho " which raises brain skills and increases IQ by six points , regardless of the age of the person.

Researchers examined the cerebral cortex.

According to previous studies cortical thickness is closely related to mental abilities , memory, attention , perceptual awareness , thought and language , but so far there is no evidence exactly which genes are associated with these laws .

It turns out that " Clotho " is a powerful stimulant of learning , thinking and memory. This is because the protein increases the strength of connections between nerve cells in the brain.

Scientists hope that this discovery will help in the treatment and prevention of various types of dementia.

They found that " Clotho " plays a key role in many processes related to starenieto . It is directly related to life expectancy and susceptibility to stroke.

Where in this gene has been observed a defect , people start aging prematurely, but when it is stimulated , life could be extended by a few years , while slow bone loss , prevents blood clots occur on and improves overall health of the elderly .

Scientists warn that no matter how miraculous it seems this gene probably causes some side effects in the body.

During the experiment, they noticed that individuals whose lives went on , proved to much smaller capacities for multiplication.

It is also likely " Clotho " cause predisposition to disease of diabetes .

The original hedgehog gene was discovered using fruit flies. Rather than the usual smooth cuticle they should have had, the fruit fly embryos defective for hedgehog had spiky bristles - earning the gene its name. The search for corresponding genes (or homologues) in vertebrates revealed 3: Indian Hedgehog (IHH), Desert Hedgehog (DHH) and Sonic Hedgehog (SHH), named for the Sega character. These genes all encode signalling proteins, which bear the same names, and of these 3 sonic hedgehog is the most researched and best understood.

So what does SHH do? It has key roles in embryonic development, affecting limb and organ creation. The shh protein guides cell growth, cell differentiation and the "patterning" of the embryo. It is also extremely important in creating the facial geometry. Different concentrations of shh in different parts of the embryo guide formation of different cells.

Sometimes the best way to understand what something does is to look at what happens when it's not working. Many defects are associated with mutations to SHH: we've already discussed how it can cause a type of holoprosencephaly (where the forebrain does not split into two hemispheres). Cyclopia accompanies severe holoprosencephaly: like the forebrain, the eyes start out as one and are split into two by shh. Some mutations leave one large eye; others create the two eyes but leave them together in a single middle socket.

The effects on organ development can be seen in mice with both copies of SHH disabled (see image). Their hearts, lungs, kidneys and guts are malformed. The face does not have its usual shape and instead forms a strange trunk, absent of eyes, ears or mouth. They have no paws and are always stillborn.

As hinted at with eye development, shh is key in creating the symmetry of the face. It controls the growth of the what will become the jaws and features. Shh has a lot of control over the width of the face; creatures with too much shh develop very wide faces. Increase the amount of shh even more and the face starts doubling, resulting in a condition known as diprosopus - "two faced". The organism can have two distorted faces, typically united by an eye in the middle.

Common laboratory research practice utilizes PCR to validate transgenic mouse lines. Validation of these lines typically involve multiple primer sets with various annealing temperatures leading to a very tedious and time consuming process. To allow researchers the opportunity to evaluate multiple transgenes within one PCR reaction, Gentaur offers the MultiGene OptiMax. Traditional thermal cyclers utilize a Peltier microchip block that is enabled for either homogeneous or gradient temperature mode. Additionally, with a traditional thermal cycler, a user can only utilize one annealing temperature per experiment. The new Gentaur MultiGene OptiMax has six distinct Peltier microchip elements that allow users to select up to six different annealing temperatures. This allows for the possibility to evaluate multiple genes in one experiment.

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WITHIN just eight days of starting a novel gene therapy, David Aponte's "incurable" leukaemia had vanished. For four other patients, the same happened within eight weeks, although one later died from a blood clot unrelated to the treatment, and another after relapsing. The cured trio, who were all previously diagnosed with usually fatal relapses of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, have now been in remission for between 5 months and 2 years. Michel Sadelain of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, co-leader of the group that designed the trial, says that a second trial of 50 patients is being readied, and the team is looking into using the technique to treat other cancers.

The key to the new therapy is identifying a molecule unique to the surface of cancer cells, then genetically engineering a patient's immune cells to attack it. In acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, immune cells called B-cells become malignant. The team were able to target a surface molecule known as CD19 that is only present on B-cells. Doctors extracted other immune cells called T-cells from the patients. These were treated with a harmless virus, which installed a new gene redirecting them to attack all cells bearing CD19. When the engineered T-cells were reinfused into the patients, they rapidly killed all B-cells, cancerous or otherwise.

"The stunning finding was that in all five patients, tumours were undetectable after the treatment," says Sadelain. He reckons that the body should replenish the immune system with regular T-cells and healthy B-cells after a couple of months. However, the patients received donated bone marrow to ensure they could regrow a healthy immune system.

The treatment is not the first to re-engineer T-cells to attack a form of leukaemia. Last year, an international company called Adaptimmune used the approach to treat 13 people with multiple myeloma – it left 10 in remission. "Although it's early days for these trials, the approach of modifying a patient's T-cells to attack their cancer is looking increasingly like one that will, in time, have a place alongside more traditional treatments," says Paul Moss of Cancer Research UK. Sadelain's team is now investigating the scope for attacking other cancers. Where no single surface molecule is unique to a cancer, he is seeking to target pairs of molecules that only occur together on cancer cells. In January, he demonstrated this approach by wiping out human prostate tumours implanted in mice, using T-cells engineered to target two surface molecules.

TARGATT Embryos

Using our novel TARGATT system, a gene of interest can be specifically inserted at a well-characterized, transcriptionally-active locus in the mouse genome with guaranteed transgene expression. Tissue-specific and / or ubiquitous expression options are available.

Pina Fratamico is on the way to find the easiest and fastest way to test for harmfulEscherichia coli in ground beef. She explores using a next-generation real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) system to discover specific gene targets that indicate the presence of dangerous foodborne pathogens. The results show that assays performed using this PCR system are rapid, sensitive, and reliable.

"Testing using these types of systems is faster, easier, and more reproducible than previous methods, and this should increase food safety in the long run. I feel that we could confidently move to these new systems for screening ground beef and other foods forE. colicontamination," says Fratamico, researcher at the USDA Agricultural Research Service in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania.

Certain strains produce a potentially dangerous toxin called Shiga toxin, but not allE. coli are dangerous. These Shiga toxin-producing E. coli also known as STEC can be found in raw meat and cause serious food poisoning in humans. According the FSIS - Food Safety and Inspection Service website, in October 2012 over, 2,300 pounds of ground beef were recalled due to contamination with STEC.

"Certain groups of STEC have been declared as adulterants by the USDA FSIS, and the availability of rapid and reliable tests for these pathogens is critical so that testing results are available before meat is shipped to restaurants and consumers," she explains.

In the meat industry the PCR protocol has already been used for some time. The genetic test detects the presence of specific gene targets that indicate the existence of STEC in meat. The new generation of real-time PCR systems, like the GeneDisc from France used in this particular study, employ a self-contained unit that standardizes the procedure and tend to be relatively portable and easy to use - offering obvious advantages for both meat processors and inspectors from the industry and government alike.